The number of people dying prematurely from coronary heart disease in Wales has been cut by nearly 70% in the past 20 years,

The number of people dying prematurely from coronary heart disease in Wales has been cut by nearly 70% in the past 20 years, a new report has revealed.

Cardiovascular (heart and circulatory) disease is the biggest killer in Wales, with more than 9,000 deaths each year.

Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said its study showed the Welsh NHS was making "continued progress" in improving patients' care.

British Heart Foundation (BHF) Cymru said the new stats were "encouraging".

There are about 375,000 people living with cardiovascular disease in Wales - 4% of the population - according to the Welsh Government's Annual Statement of Progress on Heart Disease report.
Advertisement

    Fewer deaths and cases of heart disease in Wales
    Almost 200,000 women in Wales live with heart disease
    Cholesterol-lowering jab to help prevent heart disease
    12 die from heart attacks each week, BHF Cymru says

It showed there had been a 68% reduction in the rate of people dying from premature coronary heart disease, which includes heart attacks or angina, before the age of 75.

There has been a 20% reduction since 2009 alone.

The report said this was due to the improved detection of heart disease among GPs, the ban on smoking in public places and other public health interventions, and NHS better treatments.

But it did state there were 4,085 deaths in Wales in 2015 where coronary heart disease was the underlying cause - an average of 11 deaths a day.

Of those, more than 1,400 were people under the age of 75.
Improvements:

    The number of people dying from a heart attack has fallen by 134 over the last five years, to 1,478
    The number of people dying from heart failure has reduced by nearly 40% in the last five years - by 192 deaths, to 332 deaths in 2015
    In 2015-16, the total number of people living with coronary heart disease in Wales was 120,620 - down 822 on the previous 12 months

Areas of focus:

    Late diagnoses - there were almost 35,000 emergency admissions for cardiovascular disease in 2015-16
    Improving waiting times
    Reducing premature cardiac death - there are about 8,000 victims of sudden out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year in Wales and "survival rates are low"

Cuddled from BBC